The agricultural value-chain extension model: concepts and applications in Africa

This study contributes to the literature on the impact of farmer contact with agricultural extension services on farm productivity, drawing on a unique panel sample of households residing in three resettlement areas of rural Zimbabwe. It pays particular attention to the potential confounding effects of the biases identified by Birkhaeuser, Evenson, and Feder. Specifically, we exploit the longitudinal nature of our data to estimate the impact of extension on the value of crop production per hectare, with and without controls for unobservable household fixed effects. The attraction of this estimator is that the differencing process rids the specification of the correlation between extension and the disturbance term. We find that after controlling for innate productivity characteristics and farmers' ability using household fixed- effects estimation, access to agricultural extension services, defined as receiving one or two visits per agricultural year, raises the value of crop production by about 15%. This parameter estimate is statistically significant. Another unique feature of these data are, for a subsample, extension worker assessments of farmers' ability. We find that farmers with above-average ability are indeed more productive, producing 40%-50% higher output per hectare of cropped area. Controlling for innate productivity using locality dummies, farm plot characteristics, and farmers' ability using these assessments of ability, we continue to obtain a positive association between access to extension and productivity, an association that is equal in magnitude to our fixed-effects results. However, we also find considerable variability in these parameter estimates across individual crop years.

Food security in Africa was impacted as a result of supply chain disruptions and government lockdowns brought on by the Coronavirus Disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. With participation from important actors in the agricultural value chain, the Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) assessed the effect of COVID-19 on agri-food system in Ethiopia, Mali, Nigeria, and Uganda. Farmers, agro-processors, private service providers, off-takers and merchants, input dealers, and Ministry of Agriculture Extension service personnel are among the value chain actors that took part in the study. The survey, which was held from April 13 to April 16, 2020, used semi-structured tools and questionnaires aimed at the different stakeholders. The study used a cluster sample technique. The data were analyzed using SPSS software, which included frequency counts, percentages, rank correlation, and categorical regression. Based on the severity of the lockdowns associated to COVID-19, the survey found that the outcomes differed by country. The analysis shows a negative association between e-extension and education during the COVID-19 epidemic, but a high and positive correlation (p < 0.01) between extension services and postharvest services, as well as credit availability. Factors such as transportation, labor availability, price fluctuations, output market activity, loan availability, and food and nutrition security were significantly and positively correlated with COVID-19 awareness. Additionally, the respondents indicated that price changes were favourably correlated with labour availability and transportation, and that farming activities were significantly and positively correlated with food and nutrition security, labour availability, and the output market. According to the perspective data collected in every country during the COVID-19 epidemic, postharvest services, agricultural input activities, and food and nutrition security all heavily relied on extension services, with postharvest services having a negative correlation with extension services. The results of the analysis show that COVID-19 impacted several variables that are associated with extension services across the four countries. For instance, the R2 value of the relationship between value chain variables and extension service delivery across Mali (0.485), Nigeria (0.621), Ethiopia (0.426), Uganda (0.529), and the combined countries (0.511) indicates that the variation of the dependent variables can account for 48.5% of the variation in the values of the independent variable (extension service delivery) in Mali, 62.1% in Nigeria, 42.6% in Ethiopia, 52.9% in Uganda, and 51.1% in the combined countries. Farmers' access to agricultural labour, credit services, inputs for agriculture, and output markets was restricted by the ban on travel and social gatherings. Smallholder farmers should employ digital solutions more to strengthen the agricultural value chain's actors' resilience against potential pandemics or conflicts, according to the study's implications for extension services. This will reduce the requirement for extensive personal touch and travel in the delivery of extension services. The study also highlights how crucial it is for extension services to show tangible outcomes and benefits in order to increase farming communities' and value chain actors' resilience in any difficult circumstances. Key words: COVID-19, food systems, extension services, value chain actors, output markets

Aims: The liberalization of the agricultural sector has facilitated the advent of multitude stakeholders with varied profiles involved in the provision of numerous services to agriculture. This study analyzes the advisory and extension services that support the provision of agricultural inputs in two Divisions of the Western Region of Cameroon (Mifi and Menoua).
 Study Design and Methodology: These areas are home to about 60% of the private agricultural input distributors involved in the provision of agricultural advisory and extension services within the region Data collected by questionnaire and interview guide were carried out with 62 agricultural inputs sellers with input shops on the one hand, and 7 managers of a number of organizations involved in the provision of agricultural services on the other hand.
 
 Results: private agricultural input providers use several agricultural advisory and extension approaches: 42% among them use agricultural extension approach, while 32% use advice to the family farm approach, 21% use organizational capacity building advice and 5%, demand driven approaches. The terms for providing these agricultural extension and advisory services depend on the rationalities of each of these providers. Some agricultural extension and advisory services providers (NGOs, CIGs) promote agroecology through the diffusion of organic inputs, while others promote conventional agriculture through the popularization of synthetic chemical inputs. Access to services by beneficiaries are either paid-offerings or free-offerings. Findings also reveal that in some cases, the actions of some of these providers in the field are intertwined and lead to a collaborative relationship, while in other cases providers work completely compartmentalized leading to negative effects and low performance of the local agricultural extension and advisory system.
 Conclusion: The advent of private providers has increased the number of actors with various profiles leading to potential advantages (e.g., includes access to agricultural information). Yet these potentials have not yet been fully valorized in the provision of agricultural advisory and extension services to farmers. And the needs of farmers have only been partially met. It would be equally crucial to factor climate risks as integral part of extension and advisory services.

Agricultural Extension includes dissemination of information on farming to farmers in order to help them improve agricultural productivity. A premise exists that if extension programmes are well planned and delivered, they will enhance farming efficiency and output by providing farmers with agricultural information that will help them to utilize their limited production resources. This paper examines how ICT application could help transform public extension service delivery and improve the skills of public agricultural extension service providers and in so doing increase small farmers’ access to agricultural information. This study is set in the Tana River County in Kenya, considered agricultural sector growth and development as vital to the County’s economic stability and community progress. However, while determined efforts in uplifting extension, and firming up their linkage with other actors in agricultural value chains were recognized as important to the future of agricultural development in the county, there is still a lack of evidence of a clear relationship between agricultural productivity and extension services. There was also no clear evidence that small farmers in the county were receiving sufficient extension services to sustainably undertake farming for improved productivity and food safety. While the application of ICTs in agricultural extension was found to be limited, the research acknowledged its important role in facilitating access to agricultural information by providing farmers with timely and relevant agricultural information. The study considered the necessary requirements for setting up an effective agricultural extension information system and it is assumed that this will add credibility to the policy agenda for agricultural extension and communication for rural development.

The paper examined how agricultural extension services can be mainstreamed in value chain in Nigeria. Literature materials concerning the concept of Value Chain, Agricultural extension and their roles were reviewed. Further effort was made to x-ray the possible ways where agricultural extension was used to facilitate the value chain. Findings on reviewed researches revealed that the involvement of agricultural extension in this crusade is paramount in achieving food security, poverty reduction, wealth and employment creation vis-a-viz Agricultural Transformation Agenda. Therefore, agricultural extension should be at the fore front of creating awareness on value chain to get farmers to participate as well as encourage them to be value chain actors. Government and stakeholders should facilitate the setting up of effective and functioning of value chain stakeholder committees ensuring the inclusion of agricultural extension services for effective facilitation.Keywords: Agricultural Extension Services, Mainstreaming, Value Chain

This paper reviews various studies which have provided a description and possible explanation to patterns of innovation adoption in the agricultural sector. The survey points out that the tendency of many studies to consider innovation adoption in dichotomous terms (adoption/nonadoption) may not be appropriate in many cases where the actual decisions are defined over a more continuous range. More attention needs to be given to the socio-cultural and institutional environment in area studies so that their interrelation with economic factors affecting adoption can be inferred. The presence of several interrelated innovations is another aspect that needs to be considered more carefully in future research, since a number of simultaneous decisions may be involved. Furthermore, the possibility of regular sequential patterns in adopting components of a new technological package should be specifically addressed in future studies. Finally, the impact of differential adoption rates on land holding distribution merits attention in future research.

The U.S. Cooperative Extension System (USCES) faces some serious challenges. Its relevancy and necessity are under continuous scrutiny as the number of farmers and the political power of the agricultural vote diminishes. These challenges provide an excellent opportunity to explore alternative sources of funding for the USCES and methods of technology transfer to farmers. Our objectives were to review the process and results of commercialization (the transition to user-paid consultancy) and privatization (the transition from government to privately owened) of New Zealand's agricultural extension service. Full commercialization of the New Zealand extension service took nearly 9 yr (1986 to 1994) and 3 yr (1992 to 1995) of negotiating before it was sold to a private company. During the commercialization process, the market for paid advisors increased and many of them left the public extension service to become private agricultural consultants. Many farmers were initially unwilling to pay for consultancy services. On the other hand, implementation of advice and adoption of new technologies has been greater among farmers when advice and technology are purchased than when they are provided free. Since the commercialization of publicly funded extension, farmer cooperatives and commodity boards have begun to provide free or low cost services to transfer information to farmers. Educational models and goals, and client-advisor relationships have also changed as a result of user-pays. The commercialization and privatization of publicly funded agricultural extension is a relatively new process and its affect on the long-term sustainability of agriculture within a country are uncertain. Consequently, additional in-depth investigation into the process and its long-term consequences on agricultural productivity, profitability, and social well-being should be completed before initiating such a plan in the USA.

In Tanzania, agriculture sector is known for employing more than 70% of the total population. Agriculture sector faces many challenges including climate change. Climate change causes low productivity in agriculture; low productivity is caused due to poor implementation of agricultural policies and strategies. This poor implementation of policies has also caused many farmers to be not competent in climate change adaptation. Over the years, provisions of agricultural advice and extension were provided by various approaches, including training and visit extension, participatory approaches, and farmers’ field schools. However, provision of agricultural advisory and extension service is inefficient. Also, in most cases the usage of most agricultural innovations and technologies developed is limited. A literature review indicates that the main reasons given by Tanzanian farmers for not using improved technology are not lack of knowledge or skill, but rather that the technologies do not contribute towards improvements (e.g., the technologies are not profitable or they imply to high risk). Thus, agricultural extension service needs to be geared towards teaching farmers how to develop innovative and cost effective technologies that are contextualized. Limited numbers of agricultural extension staff and less interactivity of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), such as radio and television, have been mentioned to be among the factors limiting the provision of agricultural advisory and extension services to the majority of farmers in Tanzania. The advancements in ICTs have brought new opportunities for enhancing access to agricultural advisory and extension service for climate change adaptation. In Tanzania, farmers and other actors access agricultural information from various sources such as agricultural extension workers and use of various databases from Internet Services Providers. Also there are different web – and mobile – based farmers’ advisory information systems to support conventional agricultural extension service. These systems are producing bulk amounts of data which makes it difficult for different stakeholders to make an informed decision after data analysis. This calls for the need to develop a tool for data visualization in order to understand hidden patterns from massive data. In this study, a semi-automated text classification was developed to determine the frequently asked keywords from a web and mobile based farmers’ advisory system called UshauriKilimo after being in use for more than 2 years by more than 700 farmers.

This study examines the organization and management of the Dutch agricultural extension service. The purpose is to gain insights into the functions and utility of extension, as well as to analyse the management policies and processes of the agricultural extension service.These objectives were addressed by focussing upon the following questions:1. What is meant by agricultural extension?2. What specific role and contributions should be expected from agricultural extension?3. What path did the Dutch agricultural extension service follow in her development?4. Which factors were the most important in influencing this development?4. How do management processes and organizational structures affect the agricultural extension functions?6. Which factors influence extension's managerial effectiveness?In order to answer these questions, part One begins with an analysis of extension concepts, applied to agriculture. An analysis of the literature is provided describing the effects that might be expected from agricultural extension. Part One ends with an overview of the Dutch agricultural extension service.Part Two deals with the historical development of agricultural extension in the Netherlands. This analysis emphasizes the rural political circumstances influencing extension developments as well as policy, management and organizational responses. The second part ends with an analysis of factors responsible for the rise and decline of the extension service.Part Three contains the analysis of the management structure and processes of the extension service, based on the results of a research project, carried out between 1978 and 1980. This study is built upon different management and organization theoretical perspectives. Also, a study was made of the functioning of district units. Emphases were placed on the factors influencing the managerial effectiveness of these units. This part Three ends with a description and analysis of the way the results were utilized by the extension service.The results of part One can be summarized as follows.After comparing different definitions of extension and agricultural extension, the following definition of agricultural extension was chosen:,,By agricultural extension is meant all those activities related to informing, helping, educating or influencing those working in agriculture in order to influence their decisionmaking by expanding their knowledge, changing or reinforcing their attitudes or enlarging their awareness; at the same time those playing an extension role or those managing extension are guided by a willingness to be influenced and to foster the self interest of the persons being unfluenced".Most studies of the effects of agricultural extension emphasized changes in knowledge, attitudes and behavior. The effects of extension upon the enlargement of knowledge was predominant, where-as ef fects upon changes in attitudes or behavior were less emphasized. Extension was more succesful for groups of higher socio-economic status; the value of extension was seen as neutral to positive.The results of part Two can be summarized as follows.The origins of the Dutch extension service go back to the end of the last century. Farmers were familiar with travelling teachers who diffused knowledge of new farming methods.Although encouraged by provincial farmers' organizations, the phenomenon of travelling teachers was only partly effective. In 1886 a Governmental Commission supported the idea of travelling teachers and further recommended that agricultural and horticultural teachers receive national support with part of their task to be rural extension. The recommendation was adopted. The decision was reinforced by linking the appointed teachers to the governmental Inspector of Agriculture. This occurred in 1906.The positive results of the Governmental Commission are partly due to an improvement in the economy, to political stability and to a general feeling that extension should be given national priority in modernizing agriculture.Some discontinuities occurred during the years between 1914 and 1930. Reduced governmental budgets slowed the development of the agricultural extentions service.The economic crisis of the thirties legitimized a linkage between extension and national agricultural policy instruments. The extension service also expanded by identifying target groups for which a special Service for Small Farms was established.During the Second World War the advisory service was more used to implement national production policies. Emphasis was placed on the regional extension strategies.Following the war agricultural extension went through an expansive growth period. The main objective of agricultural policy was to aid recovery and promote technical modernization; the extension service also stressed the importance of modernizing the rural community. Specific problems and target groups received attention; extension strategies were intensified.Agriculture underwent rapid change. Some reorganizations and adjustments of extension tasks and structures also took place. Uncertainties during the seventies paralled a decline in the capacity of the extension service. A new concept of extension was called for.The historical analysis of agricultural extension service reveals periods of expansion and decline. Expansion occurred in times and circumstances when extension received a larger part of the national agricultural budget, but while agricultural incomes, in general, declined.Decline occurred in times and circumstances when agricultural incomes increased and when technical development was favourable. Decline was also accompanied with a weakening representation of the extension service on the national level.Part Three deals with the management and organization of the extension service and can be summarized as follows.First a theoretical perspective describing managerial processes in extension service was laid out. The theory distinguishes managerial and operational processes. Managerial processes can be confined to several issues, consisting of decision making processes and certain conditions influencing those processes. Managerial effectiveness is a measure of the degree of attention paid towards managerial processes.The results of a research project, carried out in the years between 1978 and 1980, revealed the importance of the managerial processes and the role of information, some structural components, the involvement of the managers in the district units and some personal characteristics of the managers related to managerial effectiveness.These results stressed the importance of placing more attention on managerial functioning in the operation of an effective service. There were increasing demands on the service to match the increasingly sophisticated problems and challenges posed by the clientele and the internal capacities of the extension service.The autonomous position and status of the local extension agent is no longer adequate for efficient utilization of their resources.The research results were applied in the context of an "Organization- Development" strategy. Organization-Development strategy means a systematic approach to enlarge the capacity of established agencies through internal diagnosis and problem solving, that increases the organization's effectiveness and efficiency.The study describes the way the results have been utilized. Mention was made of the positive effects of the strategy in general and of the survey-feedback methods in particular. Some of the success of the strategy might also be explained by favourable conditions within the organization. It was concluded that successful implementation of the organization development strategy was made possible partly by similarities between that strategy and extension strategies.

Agricultural extension plays a number of important roles in the growth and transformation of the agricultural sector, including improving agricultural productivity and food security and reducing hunger and malnutrition. Extension programs and interventions that will achieve significant impacts in terms of behavior and practice changes, as well as agricultural productivity increase, will succeed as a result of suitable policy formulation and an effective implementation process. Ultimately, agricultural extension reform requires policy vision and determination and a state-level strategy that can be implemented. This paper documents issues, challenges, constraints, and potential solutions and opportunities in implementing the national extension policy (NEP) at the state level in Nigeria, using Cross River State as a case study. We use both quantitative and qualitative methods, in the form of descriptive statistical analysis and an inclusive consultative process with a focus on the multistakeholder participatory model, respectively. The descriptive results show that, generally, there is low access to agricultural extension service across commodities and their respective values chains in Cross River State. We also document interesting insights from the multistakeholder consultative process. We find that collaboration and partnership between private and public extension service providers is key to developing a sustainable extension, advisory, and support service in Cross River State. We also found that coordination and standardization of the activities of the extension service providers is a way to avoid pollution of the agricultural innovation system in the state. Funding of extension services is another important factor affecting the effective implementation of the NEP. We therefore suggest that agricultural extension services can be funded through decentralization, involvement of farmers’ associations and nongovernmental organizations, contracting out of extension services, public-private partnerships, privatization, and embedding advisory services in other types of contracts. The results of this study further validate our approach of using multistakeholder engagement at the state level as an effective and insightful method of implementing the NEP at the state level.

Agricultural extension services that are currently following the decentralization era require a participatory extension approach in line the needs of farmers in each region. This mixed-method study looked at the condition of agricultural extension governance and services at local level which characterized by agricultural resource based on economic development, namely Purworejo Regency, Central Java Province, in responding to problems in the agricultural sector and extension institutions. The research results show that the governance of extension services in Purworejo Regency faces the issue of lack of capacity building o extension agents with excessive workload and minimal staff. In contrast, extension agents have a pile of tasks that must be done individually, without inadequate support on facilities and sufficient budget to support extension services to farmers. The impact of climate change, such as an increase in pests and plant diseases and water crisis, have become major problems in the agricultural sector. This study suggests a policy and program to build extension agents' capacity and a more organized governance of extension institutions.

This thesis is a collection of substantial, original and distinguished papers, together with orations, produced during the evolutionary phase of Agricultural Extension and Communication services. The contributions are listed in the first Chapter, titled A Research Journey in Agricultural Extension and Communication, which outlines the author’s research output over several decades. Succeeding Chapters are titled: Knowledge Utilization: International Agricultural Research Communication; A Study of Some Personal and Social Factors in Relation to Farmer Performance; Audio Visual Media: Forgotten Communication Channels in Agricultural Extension; Agricultural Scientists Not News and Review Readers; Organizing Agricultural Information in Public Agencies: Universities, Research Organizations and Ministries of Agriculture; and Agricultural Extension Services in Australia. Chapter 8, titled Achievements, summarizes the author’s contributions, drawing attention to his Fellowships in three academies, and lists the highlights of his professional career as 1) placing research emphases on the development of agricultural information databases; 2) attracting a large international graduate group to undertake postgraduate studies in Agricultural Extension and Communication; and 3) noting the volume of invitations to give papers at overseas conferences, and to conduct Communication consultancies in the Asia Pacific. A CD also contains significant papers as follows: The Bannockburn Conservation Group: An Independent Perspective; Some Reflections on the American Model of Agricultural Extension; A Select Bibliography of Australian Agricultural Extension Research; Computerized Information Services for Agricultural Extension and Research; The Rural Press and Agricultural Extension; The Role of Farmer Organizations in Agricultural Extension; Agricultural Information Systems: A Lengthy Past, A Lively Future; Agricultural Communication Constraints in Papua New Guinea; The Communication of International Agricultural Science Information; and A New Agricultural Information Resource for Development. The CD concludes with a Bibliography, and the author’s CV.

Agricultural extension system reform and agent time allocation in China

Agriculture and agricultural extension service are facing numerous problems in present times when good solutions are not easy to find. Providing of agricultural extension service is important foreign-political instrument of a state which has stimulates the development of agricultural production. Agricultural extension service must provide effective link between holdings-producers, agricultural research and other sources of information. Agricultural extension agents must be aware of psycho-social and social aspects of group action and individual counselling. Therefore, one of priorities in agricultural development of our country is rising of the level of extension operation and establishment of extension service based on modern principles. This is the reason why in this paper, some of the traits of the genesis of extension services were indicated, as well as types of extension services and models of the organization, financing and human resources at disposal and structuring of these resources according to main characteristics, for the purpose of modernization and agricultural and rural development.

Chapter 2 - Reforms in agricultural extension service system in Bangladesh